Idea Transcript
CHAPTER TEN
The Scientific Exegesis The colonized Islam and science discourse that emerged in the nineteenth century made its most daring attempt to securely lodge itself in the Islamic tradition by finding a niche in the very heart of the tradition: the Qurbanic exegesis. Perhaps it was in the very nature of things that instead of seeking roots in the Islamic scientific tradition, the proponents of the new discourse sought legitimacy and sanction for their program in the Qurban; for they would have found nothing in the Islamic scientific tradition that could justify their agenda. As we have seen in chapter 4, and throughout this book, the Islamic scientific tradition had never sought legitimacy for science by directly invoking the Qurbanic text in support of its various findings; it operated within the metaphysical and ethical universe of Islam and within a hierarchy of knowledge wherein it had a legitimate place as a birthright. It was linked to all other branches of knowledge that had emerged within the Islamic civilization through an organic relationship that had evolved over time. Most of all, it was linked to the central vertical axis of the Islamic civilization which held all of its diverse manifestations in historical time with a reality that was atemporal and transcendental. It is because of this secure and natural linkage that we do not find Muslim scientists who practiced science in the framework of inquiry that was anchored in the Qurbanic metaphysics seeking support for their science in the text of Qurbanic, or worse, attempting to “prove” the divine origin of the Qurban through science; both of these phenomena only emerged in the final decades of the nineteenth century when the Islamic scientific tradition had already withered. Almost all scientific works of the pre-seventeenth century Muslim scientists start with an invocation to God, followed by salutations to the Prophet as was the customary and most natural practice of Muslims who always sought God’s help and assistance in their tasks. And then they proceed directly to the subject matter. The absence of direct use of the Qurbanic text in support of scientific data was a natural consequence of the metaphysical underpinnings of the Islamic scientific tradition which linked it to the central doctrines of Islam. The most important and powerful of these doctrines is Tawhid, the Unicity of God. It was this uncompromising monotheism that shaped and defined all things Islamic.
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The Qurban itself had made it easier for the faithful to establish a nexus between faith and science because it forged a seamless linkage between the transcendental and the historical—that is, “between that which exists in an intelligible world beyond space and time, and that which is bounded by and lies within the real spatio-temporal world with a finite beginning and an 1 end.” The Qurban neither draws a clear line of demarcation between various realms of existence nor admits any multiplicity in their ontological status; all things exist in an inalienable relationship to each other and in a sublime ontological dependence on God, who is al-Muhit (“AllEncompassing”). And He has encompassed all things, the Qurban declares in 2 an unequivocal manner. “To remember God as al-Muhit is to remain aware of the sacred quality of nature,” Nasr wrote in a doctrinal exposition of this concept, “the reality of natural phenomena as signs (ayat) of God and the presence of the natural environment as an ambience permeated by the Divine Presence of that Reality which alone is the ultimate ‘environment’ 3 from which we issue and to which we return.” Thus, because the Islamic scientific tradition was naturally rooted in the Qurbanic worldview and because it shared a common universe of discourse with the divine revelation, there was never any need to read back into the “Word of God” any scientific discovery or explanation of the “Work of God”; the emergence of these two entities in the Islamic tradition was purely under an influence which came from external sources. And this happened only when that traditional universe of discourse had been rent asunder and when Muslims found themselves overwhelmed by the power of modern science. It was precisely at that time in their history that Muslims sought such consonances. And ironically, those who pursued this new agenda were neither scientists nor exegetes with formal training in the 4 long-established tradition of Qurbanic exegesis (tafsir, pl. tafasir), at least not initially. It was only after a number of reformers had written scientific exegesis of the Qurban, al-tafsir al-cilmi, with the sole aim of finding sanctity for the modern science in the Qurban in order to encourage Muslims to acquire it, that the discourse gained popularity among some scientists and religious scholars. Nevertheless, beginning in 1880, when an Egyptian 1. Haq, Nomanul S. (2001), “Islam” in Jamieson, Dale (ed.), A Companion to
Environmental Philosophy, Blackwell Publishers, Malden, p. 113.
2. Q. 4:126. 3. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (1993), The Need for a Sacred Science, State University
of New York Press, Albany, p. 131.
4. Tafsir, pl. tafasir, exegesis; mufassasir, pl. musfassirun, exegetes.
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physician Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Iskandarani published his book, The unveiling of the luminous secrets of the Qurban in which are discussed celestial 5 bodies, the earth, animals, plants and minerals, a new vista was opened for those modernist thinkers who were interested in justifying an agenda of reform, predominantly based on urging Muslims to acquire modern science. After this publication, the trend of writing scientific exegeses of the Noble Qur’an gained momentum. Al-Iskandrani published another book in 1883 that dealt with the “Divine Secrets in the world of vegetation and 6 minerals and in the characteristics of animals”. Al-Iskandrani repeatedly construed his explanations of the Qurbanic verses to prove the presence of 7 specific European inventions and discoveries in the verses of the Qurban. In the Indian subcontinent, Sayyid Ahmad Khan had begun his tafsir in 1879; it was left unfinished at the time of his death in 1898. This was not yet a full expression, for Khan was restricted in his knowledge of western science to identify specific discoveries and inventions but, nevertheless, his 8 main intent was to motivate Muslims to acquire modern science. But soon scientific exegesis became a fully differentiated discipline to the extent that subsequent books on Qurbanic exegesis have devoted special attention to this genre. Thus, al-Dhahabi, whose seminal work, Tafsir wabl-Mufasirun (Exegesis and Exegetes), is one of the most important twentieth century surveys of the field, devotes a full chapter to al-tafsir al-cilmi (scientific 9 10 11 exegesis). In addition, Muhammad cIffat al-Sharqawi, J. J. G. Jansen, 5. Al-Iskandarani, Muhammad b. Ahmad (1297/1880), Kashf al-Asrar can al-
Nuraniyya al-Qurbaniyya fi-ma yatacallaqu bibl-Ajram as-Samawiyya wablArdiyya wabl-Haywanat wabl-Nabat wabl-Jawahir al-Macdaniyya, 3 vols. Maktabat al-Wahba, Cairo. 6. Al-Iskandarani, Muhammad b. Ahmad (1300/1883), Tibyan al-Asrar alRabbaniyya fibl-Nabat wabl Macadin wabl-Khawass al-Haywaniyya (The Demonstration of Divine Secrets in the Vegetation and Minerals and in the Characteristics of Animals), n.p., Damascus. The word tibyan (explanation) in the title is taken from Q. 16:89: And We have sent down to thee the Book, explaining all things—a guide, a mercy and glad tidings for Muslims. 7. For example, al-Iskandarani (1883), Tibyan, p. 5, 29, 132, etc. 8. Khan’s exegesis has been discussed in the previous chapter. 9. Al-Dhahabi, Muhammad Husayn (1985), al-Tafsir wabl-Mufassirun, 2 vols., 4th ed., Maktabat al-Wahba, Cairo. This work has been posthumously reprinted in three volumes by Shirkah Dar Arqam bin abi al-Arqam, n.d.; in a short note at the beginning of the third volume, the publisher states that this volume is based upon al-Dhahabi’s lectures which he delivered at the University of Baghdad between 1960-63 and they are like a prologue to many discussions of al-Tafsir wabl-
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and J. M. S. Baljon have all paid attention to this genre. In the Arab world, in addition to al-Iskandarani, early partisans of scientific exegesis include cAbd Allah Basha Fikri, Sayyid cAbd al-Rahman al-Kawkabi, and physician Muhammad Tawfiq Sidqi, all of whom either wrote exegesis or 13 works supporting scientific explanation of the verses of the Qurban. By the end of the nineteenth century, scientific exegesis had established itself as an independent discipline, though it still lacked general acceptance 14 granted to other kinds of exegesis, such as tafsir fiqhi and tafsir lughawi. The twentieth century saw a steady stream of such works in several languages. One of the first was that of Muhammad cAbduh (ca. 185015 1905), based on a series of lectures he gave during 1900/01; these became the influential Tafsir al-Manar, which has gone through several editions in 16 the twentieth century. This trend reached a high point in 1931 with the Mufassirun. All references are from this expanded edition [henceforth al-Dhahabi (new edition)]. 10. Al-Sharqawi, Muhammad cIffat (1972), Ittijahat al-Tafsir fi Misr fil-cAsr alhadith, Matbacat al-Kilani, Cairo. 11. Jansen, J. J. G. (1974), The Interpretation of the Koran in Modern Egypt, E. J. Brill, Leiden. 12. Baljon, J. M. S. (1961), Modern Muslim Koran Interpretation, 1880-1960, E. J. Brill, Leiden. 13. Al-Dhahabi (new edition), vol. 2, p. 348. 14. That is, juristic and linguistic exegeses, so called because of their stress on the juristic or linguistic aspects of the Qurban; other distinct categories of traditional tafsir include: tafsir riwabi, which makes transmitted report (riwaya) as its main stay; tafsir kalami, which focuses on theological issues; tafsir nahwi, which discusses issues of grammar; and tafsir adabi, which treats matters of language and style. In many tafasir, aspects mentioned above are often combined. 15. For useful biographical information on cAbduh, see Badawi, M. A. Zaki (1976, 1978), The Reformers of Egypt, Croom Helm, London, pp. 35-95; also see Kedourie, Elie (1966), Afghani and cAbduh: An Essay on Religious Unbelief and Political Activism in Modern Islam, Frank Cass & Co. Ltd. London which mostly deals with Afhani’s influence on cAbduh. 16. cAbduh gave a series of lectures on the Qurban and his Syrian student, Muhammad Rashid Rida took notes which he later expanded. The enlarged work was shown to cAbduh who approved and corrected, as needed. These lectures appeared in the periodical Al-Manar, vol. iii, 1900, as Tafsir Manar of cAbduh. After the death of cAbduh in 1905, Rashid Rida continued Tafsir al-Manar, from Q. 4:125 to Q. 12:107, indicating those parts (in these posthumous portions) which were the result of cAbduh’s lectures and his own additions. Eventually, Tafsir Manar was published in 12 volumes in 1927; a later edition with indices is Tafsir al-Qurban al-Hakim al-Mustahir bi Tafsir al-Manar, 12 vols. al-Matb. al-Amiriyya, Cairo, 1954-1961. In addition, cAbduh had
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publication of the twenty-six volume tafsir of Tantawi Jawhari (1870-1940), al-Jawahir fi Tafsir al-Qurban al-Karim, illustrated with drawings, 17 photographs and tables. This is one of the earliest comprehensive scientific exegesis in which the author expressly states that he prayed to God to enable him to interpret the Qurban in a way that includes all the sciences that were attained by humans so that Muslims could understand the cosmic sciences; the author also believed that the Suras of the Qurban complement things that were discovered by modern science. Scientific tafsir was also, sometimes, integrated into the general tafsir literature. A work of this kind is Farid Wajdi’s Safwat al-cIrfan (The Best Part of Cognition), a Qurban commentary with an elaborate introduction, now commonly known 18 as al-Mushaf al-Mufassar (The Qurban Interpreted). This commentary, printed in the margin of the text of the Qurban, is divided into two parts. The first part, Tafsir al-Alfaz (Explanation of Words) explains difficult and rare words; the second, Tafsir al-Macani (Explanation of Meaning) “translates” the text of the Qurban in contemporary Arabic with remarks spread throughout the translation. It is in these remarks that Wajdi inserts his scientific explanations, often with exclamations placed in parentheses: “you read in this verse an unambiguous prediction of things invented in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries”; or “modern science confirms 19 this literally”. Unlike many other works, Wajdi’s commentary is not exclusively devoted to the scientific explanations. But there are many other 20 works which have been primarily written for this purpose. In their zeal to published, in his own life time, Tafsir Juzb cAmma, al-Matb. al-Amiriyya, Cairo, 1322/1904; Tafsir Surat al-cAsr, Cairo, 1903; [Tafsir al-Fatiha], Fatihat al-Kitab, Tafsir al-Ustadh al-Imam…, Kitab al-Tahrir, Cairo, 1382; and his lectures on the Qurban were edited and published by Tahir al-Tanakhi as Durus min al-Qurban al-Karim, Dar al-Hilal, Cairo, n.d. 17. Jawhari, Tantawi (1931), al-Jawahir fi Tafsir al-Qurban al-Karim al-Mushtamil cala cAjabib, 26 vols., Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi, Cairo. 18. Wajdi, Muhammad Farid (n.d.), Al-Mushaf al-Mufassar, Cairo. 19. Wajdi (n.d.), p. 346 and 423. 20. For instance, the 1954 work of Hanafi Ahmad, Mucjizat al-Qurban fi Wasf al-Kabinat, which was reprinted in 1960 and 1968 as al-Tafsir al-cIlmi li Ayat al-Kawniyya (Scientific Exegesis of the Cosmic Verses); Ismacil, cAbd cAziz (1938), al-Islam wabl-tibb al-Haditha (Islam and the Modern Medicine), Matb. al-Ictimad, Cairo; al-Harawi, Husain (1361/1942), alNazariyya al-cIlmiyya fibl-Qurban (Scientific Theories in the Qurban) Cairo; cAtiyyah, Hasan Hamid (1992), Khalq al-Samawati wabl-Ard fi Sittati Ayyamin fibl-cIlm wabl-Qurban (Creation of the Heavens and the Earth in Six Days in Science and in the Qurban), Nashr wa-Tawzic Mubassasa cAbd al-
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prove the existence of modern science in the Qurban, some exegetes have gone to the extent of formulating their theories on the foundation of classical exegeses of the Qurban. In doing so, they primarily borrow the concepts which have been dealt in the vast tafsir literature. One such concept is the concept of cijaz, the inimitability of the Qurban. For example, this classical theme was “misappropriated” by Muhammad Kamil, for his claim that “the scientific miracle [of the Qurban] is greater than the miracle 21 of its matchless eloquence.” By now, the genre seems to have exhausted all verses of the Qurban that can be shown to contain specific information and knowledge of a scientific nature. This voluminous tafsir literature has also given birth to a large amount of secondary literature, books, articles, television productions, audiovisual and web-based material. Some authors have produced lists of all “scientific verses”; others have classified these verses according to their applicability to various branches of modern 22 science, such as physics, oceanography, geology, cosmology. According to Tantawi Jawhari, the number of such verses is 750, out of a total of some 23 6616 that make up the Qurban. In addition to his tafsir, he also published Karim b. cAbd Allah, Tunis; al-Khatib, Musa (1415/1994), Min Dala’il al-I‘jaz al-‘Ilmi fibl-Qurban wabl-Sunna al-Nabawiyya (Signs of the Scientific Miracles of the Qurban and the Prophetic Sunna), Mubassasat al-Khalij alcArabi libl al-Tibaca wabl-Nashr, Cairo; Nawfal, cAbd al-Razzaq (1409/1989), Min al-Ayat al-cilmiyya (On the Scientific Verses), Dar alShuruq, Cairo and Beirut; and Shahin, cAbd al-Rahman (1369/1950), Icjaz al-Qurban wabl-iktishafat al-Haditha (The Inimitability of the Qurban and Modern Discoveries), Cairo. 21. Kamil, Muhammad (1955), Al-Qurban al-Karim wabl-cUlum al-Haditha (The Noble Qurban and the Modern Sciences), Dar al-Fikr al-Hadith, Cairo, p. 15 wherein he states: “fihi min icjaz cilmi fawq ma fihi min icjaz balaghi.” 22. Qurashi, M. M.; Bhutta, S. M.; and Jafar, S. M. (1987), Quranic Ayaat Containing References to Science and Technology, Sh. Sirri Welfare & Cultural Trust and Pakistan Science Foundation, Islamabad; Nurbaki, Haluk (1993), Verses from the Glorious Koran and the Scientific Facts, 3rd edition, Türkiye Diyanet Vakfi, Ankara. 23. This is a highly problematic number. The end of a Qurbanic verse (aya) is generally marked by a small circle. This convention is, however, a later development. Early Qurban exegetes had precisely defined aya in its technical sense and numerous books exist on this subject. Jalal uddin al-Sayuti (849-911/1445-1505), mentions various such works in his alItqan fi cUlum al-Qurban, 2 vols., Matbca Amir, Cairo, 1967, pp. 225-43. Depending on the technical definition of aya employed to count the total number of verses of the Qurban, they are said to be 6000, 6616, or 6216; the total number of letters that make up the Qurban is 323,671. But the classification of verses into legal or scientific is not a simple matter as many verses address more than one topic. Jawhari also uses a
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a book in 1925, al-Qurban wabl-cUlum al-cAsriyya (The Qurban and the Modern Sciences), in which he prescribed two remedies for freedom from foreign rule: unity and scientific development. While the trend of writing scientific tafsir seems to have abated, publication of secondary literature on the Qurban and modern science is 24 on the rise. In addition to proving the existence of specific scientific knowledge in the Qurban, some of these works have also created a subbranch of the scientific exegesis, al-i‘jaz al-‘ilmi, the scientific miracle, which treats its subject on the same lines as those on which the classical tafsir literature dealt with the theme of the inimitability of the Qurban (i‘jaz al25 Qurban), which had originated on the basis of the Qurbanic challenge to 26 the unbelievers to produce a sura like it. This theme, repeated in the 27 Qurban in various forms, had given rise to a fully differentiated branch of exegesis which explored and defined, in precise terms, what is meant by the inimitability of the Qurban, examined various aspects of the challenge, and explored the spiritual and linguistic aspects of this concept. In an effort to gain legitimacy, the new scientific exegesis was grafted onto this coherent body of classical tradition; thus in addition to the classical form of icjaz (inimitability), a new category was invented.28 During the last three decades of the twentieth century, a number of social, political and economic factors contributed to the spread and popularity of this literature. Various state-sponsored institutions organized very loose definition of the word “science”.
24. This literature is being produced in all languages and from all countries.
A few examples of such works are: Al-Barr, Muhammad cAli (1986), Khalq al-Insan bayn al-Tibb wabl-Qurban (The Creation of Human Being in Medicine and the Qurban), al-Dar al-Sacudiyyah, Jeddah; Barq, Ghulam Jilani (n.d.), Dô Qurban (Two Qurbans), Shaykh Ghulam Ali, Lahore; Mahmood, S. Bashir ud-Din (1991), Doomsday and Life After Death, Holy Qurban Research Foundation, Islamabad; Naqvi, Syed Sibte Nabi (1973), Islam and Contemporary Science, World Federation of Islamic Missions, Karachi; El-Naggar, Z. R. (1991), Sources of Scientific Knowledge: The Geological Concept of Mountains in the Qurban, The Association of Muslim Scientists and Engineers and The International Institute of Islamic Thought, Herndon. 25. The word icjaz, from the root cJZ, has various meanings, including, “to disable, to incapacitate, to be impossible, to be inimitable”, see Lane (1984), op. cit. vol. 2, pp. 1959-62. 26. Q. 10:38. 27. For example, Q. 2:23-24, Q. 11:16, and Q. 17:90. 28. Many books have been written on this aspect. See, for example, Muslim, Mustafa (1999), Mabahith fi Icjaz al-Qurban, Dar al-Qalam, Damascus.
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conferences and seminars in which scientists linked specific verses of the Qurban to specific data and theories of modern science to prove (i) that the Qurban is really a book of God, revealed to the Prophet of Islam because such specific scientific information was unknown during his life and (ii) that the Qurban contains all scientific knowledge and it is for science and scientists to discover this knowledge. This approach is encumbered with an emotional, psychological, even political, baggage and has been opposed and challenged by serious scholarship. But its mass popularity remains uncontestable. This has given rise to mountains of apologetic literature which ranges from the enormously popular book of the French Muslim Maurice Bucaille, The Bible, the Qurban and Science—first published as La 29 Bible, le Coran et la science in 1976 and since then translated into every language spoken in the Muslim world—to hundreds of websites which attempt to prove that the Qurban is, in fact, the word of God because it contains scientific theories and facts which modern science has only recently discovered. The rise, popularity and mass distribution of this literature also owes its existence to the oil-boom and politics of the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was during this time that the rulers of Arabia established a “Commission for Scientific Miracles of Qurban and Sunna” (Haibt al Icjaz al-cilmi fibl-Qurban wabl-Sunna), at Makkah, under the aegis of the World Muslim League (Rabita al-aclam al-islami) with six goals and 30 objectives. In 1992, the Commission published a booklet which contains 29. Bucaille, Maurice (1976), La Bible, le Coran et la science: les Écritures saintes
examinées à la lumière des connaissances modernes, Seghers, Paris, translated by Alastair D. Pannell and the author as The Bible, the Qur’an and Science. The English translation was first published in 1978 by the North American Trust Publications, Indianapolis, and has since been published in hundreds of pirated local editions all over the Muslim world. 30. These “Aims and Objectives” appear in many publications of the Commission; the following verbatim quotation is from the inner back title of the booklet entitled, Proposed Medical Research Projects Derived from the Qurban and Sunnah, “prepared” by Abdul-Jawwad M. As-Sawi, M.D. and published by the Commission in 1992: “(i) To lay down governing rules for and methods of signs in the Scientific signs in the Holy Qurban and Sunnah; (ii) To train a leading group of scientists and scholars to consider the scientific phenomena and the cosmic facts in the light of the Holy Qurban and Sunnah; (iii) To give an Islamic Character to the physical sciences through introugcing the conclusion of approved researches into the curricula of the various stages of education; (iv) To explain, without constraint, the accurate meanings of the Quranic verses and the Prophet’s Traditions relating to Cosmic
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seventeen research projects in therapeutic medicine and nineteen in preventive medicine. The Commission has published about twenty books dealing with the “scientific miracles” of the Qurban in various fields such as embryology, botany, geology, astronomy and cosmology. Five international conferences have been organized by the Commission between 1987 and 2000 in various countries. These conferences have a set pattern: the 31 32 organizers invite scientists, especially non-Muslim scientists, and ask them to relate their scientific research to specific verses of the Qurban or to the traditions of the Prophet of Islam which they receive in translation much before the conference. The proceedings of the conferences are videotaped and then these tapes are widely distributed throughout the 33 world. This profanation of the religious texts, patronized by powerful state institutions, has received little opposition from the religious quarters, which is a sign of a deep-rooted malaise of the contemporary Islamic Sciences, in the light of modern scientific finds, linguistic analysis and purpose of Sharibah; (v) To provide Muslim missionaries and massmedia with Dacwah; (vi) To publicize the accepted researches in simplified forms to suit the various academic levels and to translate those papers into languages of the Muslim world and the other living languages.” 31. Notable among the Muslim scholars who have been associated with the Commission are Sheikh Abdul Majeed Zindanni, its founder and first secretary-general and Zaghloul El-Naggar, an Egyptian geologist. 32. Among the non-Muslim scholars who have participated in these conferences are gynecologist Joe Leigh Simpson, marine scientist William Hay, and Keith Moore, the author of a widely used embryology textbook, The Developing Human, which was published by the Commission with “Islamic Additions: Correlation Studies with Qurban and Hadith” by Abdul Majeed A. Azzindani, and who wrote in the “Foreword” of this edition: “I was astonished by the accuracy of the statements that were recorded in the 7th century AD, before the science of embryology was established. Although I was aware of the glorious history of Muslim scientists in the 10th century AD and of some of their contributions to medicine, I knew nothing about the religious facts and beliefs contained in the Qurban and Sunnah. It is important for Islamic and other students to understand the meaning of these Qurbanic statements about human development, based on current scientific knowledge.” Moore, Keith L. (1982), The Developing Human: With Islamic Additions, Commission. He also published, Qurban and Modern Science: Correlation Studies, Islamic Academy for Scientific Research, Jeddah, 1993. 33. The first international Conference, organized by the Commission was held in Islamabad, Pakistan in 1987; the fifth in Beirut in 2000.
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scholarship. But this large-scale misguided exercise has not been totally ignored. Following the 1987 conference of the Commission, held in Islamabad under the direct patronage of the then military ruler of Pakistan, General Muhammad Zia-ul Haq, Pervez Hoodbhoy produced a 34 scathing criticism of the whole project. This angry response to an illconceived plan which was being orchestrated by the Commission with the help of a small number of mostly old and retired Muslim scientists and an equally small number of Western scientists who had been lured into the plan by offers of attractive financial rewards and an opportunity to rub shoulders with the rulers, mercilessly exposed this profanely executed endeavor. But, it is, in itself, equally flawed because of its own agenda which was to support, reiterate and re-establish the “religious orthodoxy versus foreign sciences” thesis of Ignaz Goldziher discussed in chapter 5. Hoodbhoy finds nothing worthwhile in the Islamic scientific tradition, except “five great ‘herectics’ (al-Kindi, Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd and Ibn Khaldun, see chapter 10 of his book); he accepts the discredited periodization in which Islamic scientific tradition is said to have withered by the thirteenth century, with its so-called “golden age” being in the eleventh century. In his “Why Didn’t the Scientific Revolution Happen in Islam?” (chapter 11), he reproduces a caricature of the arguments used by Orientalists: the role of Muslim law, autonomous institutions, political factors, especially the 1258 sacking of Baghdad, and, 35 of course, al-Ghazali, who “routed the rationalists”. The appearance of the scientific exegesis of the Qurban at a time when most of the Muslim world was under colonial rule, its linkage with the agenda of the reformers with their insistent demands for the acquisition of modern science and technology and the historical absence of a differentiated field of tafsir ‘ilmi cast suspicion on the genre. But all of these can be, and have been, set aside. For example, the historical absence can be discarded as an obstacle because after all, all other genres of tafsir made 34. Hoodbhoy, Pervez (1991), Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the
Battle for Rationality, Zed Books Ltd., London and New Jersey.
35. We have examined all of these factors in chapter 5. But the most
important aspect of Hoodbhoy’s work is not the reproduction of old, discredited theories, based on a scholarship that took no note of the discoveries of Islamic scientific texts after 1960s, but its disparaging attitude toward the Islamic tradition and its unqualified awe of modern science, without any recognition of the metaphysical and philosophical underpinnings, which are necessarily part of all scientific endeavors in all civilizations.
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their appearance in historical time. Tafsir Kalami, for instance, arose when Kalam tradition had matured and overshadowed many other aspects of Islamic intellectual tradition. Likewise, the mystical interpretation arose in its own historical time. The proponents of this genre argue that the Qurban has always been looked upon as a book of guidance and knowledge and that there is no reason not to extend the range of Qurbanic guidance and knowledge to modern science. An often cited verse in support of finding contemporary scientific data in the Qurban is: We have ignored nothing in the 36 Book. But their most basic justification rests on the presence of a large number of verses, though not 750, which draw attention to a variety of natural phenomena. For instance, the Qurban refers to the order and balance that characterizes the universe (Q. 25:2; 55:5-7; 67:3), it mentions the harmonious interdependency of various parts of the physical world, and it describes regularities of celestial movements. At times, the Qurbanic details are rather specific, such as when it refers to the various stages through which the fetus develops (Q. 22:5; 23:12-14; 40:67). Similarly, the Qurbanic concept of pairs (Q. 13:3; 36:36; 53:45; 55:52), which refers to the principle of the complementarity of opposites seems to characterize a large part of the physical world. For these reasons—and the list is not exhaustive—the case for the scientific exegesis of the Qurban has been supported by many exegetes. The scientific exegesis of the Qurban has not been without opposition. It is interesting to note that this criticism is built upon usul al-fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence), the queen of Islamic sciences. Many scholars base their criticism of modern scientific exegesis on the work of eminent 37 usuli scholar, al-Shatibi, who had dealt with the question of bida 38 (innovation) in his Kitab al-Ictisam, and in his doctrinal work, al-Muwafaqat 39 fi Usul al-Sharica, in a general way. “And among them are those who 36. Q. 6:38: ma farratna fibl-kitabi min shaybin; the word farrata, used here in
the negative case, literally means “to neglect, to overlook, to leave out of calculation”; sometimes part of 16:89, We have sent down to thee the Book, explaining all things, is also used. 37. Abu Ishaq Ibrahim bin Musa al-Shatibi al-Andulasi (d. 790/1388), the usuli scholar from al-Andalus, not to be confused with Abubl Qasim b. Firruh b. Khalaf b. Ahmad al-Rucayni (538-590/1144-1194), eminent Qurbanic scholar from al-Andalus, famous for his mnemonic techniques in the discipline of Qurbanic recitation, qiraba. 38. Edited by Rashid Rida in his influential periodical al-Manar, xvii (1333/1913), reprinted several times. 39. First published from Tunis 1302/1884, and later from Cairo 1341/1923;
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transgress the bounds in their claims about the Qurban by saying that the Qurban contains all knowledge of the ancients and the moderns in branches 40 [such as] physics, geometry, mathematics, logic, and linguistics.” These critics point out that the Qurban is not a compendium of medicine, astronomy, geometry, chemistry, or necromancy, but a book of guidance, sent down by God to bring humanity out of darkness and usher it into light. They criticize the use of the Qurbanic verses, such as We have ignored nothing in the Book, by pointing out that though the word farrata in the verse literally means “to neglect, to overlook, to leave out of calculation”, it should not be interpreted to mean that the Qurban contains detailed knowledge of all things, but only that it contains general principles of all those matters that are important for human beings to know so that they can act in order to reach physical and spiritual perfection; it leaves the door open for human beings to figure out and elucidate, to the extent possible in a given age, details of different disciplines of knowledge. This is the position taken by al-Dhahabi. He also lists other scholars who have rejected scientific exegesis; they include such authorities as Mahmud Shaltut, Muhammad Mustafa al-Maraghi, and Amin al-Khuli. But it is to al-Khuli that we credit a detailed and systematic modern 41 refutation of the scientific exegesis. Al-Khuli divided his major arguments under various headings; these include: (i) Lexicological: The Qurbanic words do not bear a correspondence with the terms and vocabulary of modern sciences; (ii) Philological: The scientific exegesis is philologically unsound because the Qurban was first addressed to the contemporaries of the Prophet and cannot contain anything that they did not understand; (iii) for a contemporary study of his life and thought, see Masud, Muhammad Khalid (1977), Islamic Legal Philosophy: A Study of Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi’s Life and Thought, Islamic Research Institute, Islamabad, repr. with additions (1995) as Shatibi’s Philosophy of Islamic Law, Islamic Research Institute, Islamabad. 40. Quoted in al-Dhahabi (new edition), vol. 2, p. 342, al-Muwafqat, vol. 2, p. 79. 41. Amin al-Khuli taught Qurban exegesis at the Egyptian University at Giza. He never published a commentary but his various works on the relationship between philology and Qurban exegesis have been influential in setting the principles of modern Qurban interpretation. A collection of his previously published articles appeared in 1961: alKhuli, Amin (1961), Manahij Tajdid fibl-Nahw wabl-Balagha wabl-Tafsir wabl-Adab, Dar al-Macrifa, Cairo; also important in this respect is his 1944 work: al-Tafsir: Macalim Hayati Minhaj al-Yawm, Dar al-Macrifa Cairo.
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Theological: It is theologically unsound because the main intent of the Qurban is guidance and it does so by establishing a worldview based on certain doctrines, not scientific principles; and (vi) Logical: It is logically absurd to assume that the finite quantity of Qurbanic text should contain ever-changing views of the nineteenth and twentieth century scientists. A similar critique was written in the Indian subcontinent by Maulana Ashraf cAli Thanvi (d. 1943), who pointed out various errors involved in subjecting the Qurbanic verses to scientific interpretation. “As soon as people hear or see any new finding of science by the Europeans,” he wrote, “they try in one way or the other to posit such finding as a connotation of some verse of the Qurban. They reckon this as a great service to Islam, a 42 cause of pride for the Qurban, and a sign of their own ingenuity.” In sum, there are numerous objections against the very concept of tafsir al-‘ilmi. It is vulnerable on the ground that science is changeable, and that it is wrong to interpret the Qurban in the light of a knowledge that is always 43 changing. It is an unsound enterprise because in spite of the voluminous literature so far produced in the name of tafsir al-‘ilmi, nothing has been shown to be rooted in the centuries of scholarship that has existed in the Islamic tradition. This literature is filled with attempts to show that everything in the contemporary world—from microbes to telegraphs—can be shown to originate in the verses of the Qurban. Likewise, it reads all major scientific theories—from Big Bang to theories of evolution—in the text of the Noble Qurban. It also attempts to build a case for the origin of all contemporary sciences in the Qurban. Thus, it finds the origins of modern astronomy, physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, geology, geography, anthropology, sociology, economics, and psychology in the Qurban. It is motivated by a wish to demonstrate compatibility (muwafaqa) 44 between the Qurban and modern Western science. We have already 42. This quotation from al-Intibat al-Mufidah can al-Ishtibahat al-Jadida of
Maulana Thanvi is cited from a book review of Maurice Bucaille’s The Bible, the Qurban and Science by Muhammad al-Ghazali; see Islamic Studies, vol. 40 (2001), no. 2, pp. 333-4. 43. It is important to note that almost all literature supporting scientific exegesis discreetly avoids citing older scientific findings which have become obsolete. What would be the value of the works which cite contemporary theories when these theories will be discarded by science? 44. A parallel may be drawn between this and the attempts to show the existence of an essential harmony between revelation and reason, though the two attempts differ from each other in many respects.
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pointed out that during the era when the Islamic scientific tradition was the most powerful scientific tradition anywhere in the world, all major Qurban commentaries generally remained free of direct references to science. Its recent appearance is, therefore, somewhat puzzling. The scientific exegesis is also unsound on the grounds that it is not consistent with the treatment of the rest of the Qurbanic data. For instance, the Qurban makes a very specific prediction in the opening verses of Chapter 30, The Romans. It states that the Romans, who had been defeated by the Iranians, would turn the tables on Iran within three to nine years. This prediction was fulfilled but no one claimed that the Qurban contains specific and detailed knowledge of all historical events. It was understood that the fact that the Qurban made a specific prediction does not imply that it contains information about all future events. Thus, this would not be a possible basis for claiming that the Qurban also makes reference to Tariq bin Ziyad’s invasion of Spain in 711, or the Iranian Revolution of 1979. After all, if the Qurban is said to contain the knowledge of the ancients and those who came in the latter times (cilm al-awwalin wabl-akhirin), then this should be true of history no less than of science. But if it cannot be claimed that the Qurban is a repository of all events that would ever happen in historical time, it can also not be claimed to be a repository of all the scientific 45 inventions and discoveries that would ever be made. The discourse on Islam and science has not remained colonized; it did find liberators who have produced a small body of literature that is free from the colonial trappings. Their work forms the basis of a new nexus—an emerging and developing nexus to be sure, but the one that can eloquently express perspectives rooted in the Islamic tradition.
Nevertheless, there exists in Islam a well-established tradition of scholarship in this field including works by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, alGhazali, Ibn Taymiyya, and Ibn Rushd. This subject has also received substantial attention by many later scholars of the Indian subcontinent, such as Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi (d. 1034/1624), Shah Wali Allah (d. 1176/1762), Maulana Fazl-i Haq Khayrabadi (d. 1278/1861), Mawlana Muhammad Qasim Nanautvi (d. 1297/1880), and Maulana Ashraf cAli Thanvi (d. 1362/1943). 45. This last argument has been made in an as yet unpublished conference paper: Mir, Mustansir (2001), “Scientific Exegesis of the Qurban—A Viable Project?”, presented at the International Conference on “Science in the Islamic Civilization”, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 2-5, 2001.